The clothing giant has had to pull a design of children's socks from it stores after shoppers pointed out that the pattern resembled the Arabic word for Allah.

The blue socks were adorned with Lego characters holding jackhammers but the resemblance to the Arabic word was too much for some customers.

The company recalled the socks and apologised for the confusion. Any resemblance was a coincidence, it said.

"At H&M we always aim to offer products that we believe our customers will appreciate," a spokesperson for the retailer told Sweden radio SVT. "The print on this sock represents a Lego figurine, any other meaning is coincidental and we apologise if this motif has offended anyone."

The recall and apology came just two weeks after the brand was accused of racism when another item in its kids' collection came to public attention.